GERMANY AND THE POLES

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 335, 23 October 1908, Page 7

GERMANY AND THE POLES

LANGUAGE LaW. SILENT DELIBERATIONS. (BT IBUGltil'H—ritKSS ASSOCIATION—COPniIOM.) London, October 21. Poles in Prussia are not allowed to speak the Polish language at publio mdetings. ■Therefore at recent meetings speeches were printed and distributed among the auditnce, who read them silently, and then, also in silence, voted for or against the motions brought forward.. Blackboards were used for tho purpose of recording tho votes. Tho police wore powerless to interfere. PERSISTENCE OF THE POLE. LOYALTY TO HIS MOTHER-TONGUE. Tho "Berliner Tageblatt," which points out that after more than a contury of continuous effort the Prussian Government has failed to induce the Poles to give up their mothertongue, remarks that after tho new law comes into force "only German is to bo spoken, and those who cannot or will not speak German are to hold their tongues." But the ingenious Poles can hold their tongues and yet conduct their meetings. The language clause of the German Associations Law, passed by the Reichstag in April, bogins by declaring that "the proceedings in public meetings are to b'o conducted in tho German language."' Certain exemptions are provided, as in-the caso of international congresses, and it is. stipulated that in administrative districts, where more than 60 per cent, of the indigenous population speak a nonGerman mother-tongue, this noii-German language may be employed at a public meeting if tho conveners of the meeting give three days' notice "to the police authorities. The clause is bitterly resented by the Poles, who find the Reichstag taking away their liberty of language, while' tho Prussian Diet at tho samo timo passas • a special law to facilitate the compulsory expropriation of Prussian lands owned by Poles. Tho Frciich-spoaking inhabitants of Alsace-Lorraine wore also aroused by the Reichstag's passing of tho language clause, but were assured by the Imperial Government that their existing rights would be safeguarded by a law to be passed by tho Administration of Alsace-Lorraine. Tho Radicals who form part of the Government majority, or Bloc, in the Reichstag explained their attitudo in supporting the language clause by claiming that the Associations Bill as a whole represents a popular advance as regards the right of public, meeting; and that, as regards tho Prussian Poles, thoy would have got a worse language law from the Prussian Diet than from the Reichstag. This constitutes little comfort for the Poles. Polish miners who have migrated to Westphalia and the Rhine provinces cannot claim to be exempt as "indigenous population," even though they may be a large proportion of the population. Those subjects in the eastern provinces of Prussia who speak non-German languages amount to nearly 10 per cent, of tho total population of tho kingdom, and in tho case of the Poles tho proportion tends to increase year by'year. In a number of the administrative districts Of Prussia tho Poles will, fortunately for them, be exempt by tho fact that they exceod GO per cent, of the population within tho district. ■ The. chief speech in opposition to the language clause was delivered by the leader of the Catholic Centre, Dr. Spahn. <He quoted Prince Bismarck as having declared that the mixture of Slavonic and Teutonic blood had politically strengthened the German nation, aiid ho could not understand vhy this attack was now being directed against ono particular branch of tho Slavonic race. Ho called attention to the fact that one-third of those who employ tho German language live in non-German oountries, and that tho Reichstag and the Government would bo setting a very bad example to those countries if in tho caso of tho Polish minority it iilterfored with the use of the mothor-tongue. Then there was tho caso of Austria, who was no doubt, a loyal 'ally of Germany, but was at tho same time bound to take account of the sympathies of hei vast Slavonic population. With regard tb tho question of religion, ho felt bound to say that, rightly or wrongly, tho Polos regardod this attack on their language as ultimately directed against their Roman Catholicism.